From The Inside Out
by Digitick
Summary: Xana gets control of Yumi, Odd and Ulrich, leaving Jeremie up to the task of saving them


Episode 1, Chapter 1

Our story starts in Lyoko, deep within the Forest Region. Inside the tower  
Aelita's busy talking to Jeremie regarding X.A.N.A.  
"It's really odd, Jeremie" Aelita said. "There haven't been any strong pulsations or attacks in the last week. Do you think Xana may finally have given up?"  
"I don't know Aelita." Jeremie said. "Xana might have been drained off power since last time, so maybe he's just taking a time out to recharge."  
"I'll keep an eye out for anything unusual. See you tomorrow Jeremie."  
"Night Aelita" Jeremie said, and logged off.

Aelita stood up and began walking to the edge of the platform, ready to teleport to another part of Lyoko, when suddenly a low growl surrounds her and the tower starts shaking.  
"What?" Aelita looked around worried. Suddenly something rushed up from behind and grabbed her. On the outside the tower starts to glow red, and the area echoed with Aelita's terrified screams.

Episode 1, chapter 2

Jeremy was still busy on his computer after his chat with Aelita. On his screen a lot of information was busy going through a simulation.  
"Come on, come on..." Jeremie muttered, staring at the screen.  
With a beep, the computer finished and a green + appeared.  
"Yes!" Jeremie cheered. now I can finally finish off all the modifications. "And thanks to this  
(touches a button on the keyboard and pulls out the disk from the drive)  
I'll have a great surprise for Aelita".(blushes)  
He looked at his clock on his desk. 19:30 the readout says.  
"5 minutes travel to the factory, an hour or so work and 5 minutes back.  
Not much time for sleep." He thought to himself. "But who sleeps anymore?" He smiled.  
Filled with excitement he rushed out of the room, absent mindedly slapping at a insect biting him on neck, never noticing the black tentacle retreating back into his room.

At the Ishiyama residence, Yumi was lying on her bed, listening to music on her walkman and trying to forget about the day. A frown creased her forehead as the memory of what had happened today resurfaced.  
"Stupid Sissi!" Yumi thought, "Why can't she just give up already!"  
While walking to her next lesson she had seen Sissi corner Ulrich against a wall with Jeremy and Odd nowhere in sight.  
"Come on Ulrich, you know we were meant for each other." she said, leaning closer.  
"Stop it Sissi!" Ulrich said, pulling away, "You know I don't like. I've told you this a hundred times already! You're just not my type."  
"It's all Yumi's fault that your like this to me. Why don't you dump that worthless girl already and go for someone more popular and more-"  
Before she could continue she felt a hand on her shoulder, and when she turned she came face to face with Yumi's open hand.

Smack!  
Needless to say, the principal and her parents weren't to thrilled about what had happened. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth in an attempt not scream of anger.

From beneath her bed, through the wall socket it came, slowly oozing out and snaking towards the foot end of her bed. Silently it crept on, reaching the bottom undetected. It rose up into the air, spread out like a wave,  
and struck.

Episode 1, Chapter 3

Morning at Kadic College began as usually, kids coming in, friends greeting each other and Ulrich under a tree in front of the main building waiting for Yumi to show. "Hey, Ulrich!" He turned around and saw Odd running down the stairs towards him.  
"Any sign of her yet?" Odd asked.  
"No, not yet." Ulrich said, scanning the schoolyard for any sign of her.  
"Don't worry." Odd smirked, "After how you defended her yesterday I'm sure she'll be more then happy to see you"  
"It's not like that." Ulrich said, blushing slightly. Seeing Odd still smirking at him he said: "Look, all I did was tell the principal what really happened, ok?"  
"Sure, I believe you. By the way, have you seen Jeremy this morning? He wasn't in his room this morning" Ulrich shook his head. "Oh well, I'm sure he'll turn up on time."

Odd started walking towards the school. Halfway between the school and the yard he turned around and said "Don't be too late for class!" before running off, laughing.  
Ulrich leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. He tried to think of what he would say to Yumi when he saw her, but couldn't think of anything right.  
While still pondering on what to do, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a familiar voice say "Hi Ulrich"  
"Hey Yumi, how-". He stopped in mid sentence, a confused look on his face.  
"What's wrong?" Yumi asked.  
"I...I don't know" Ulrich said. He felt that there seemed something different about her, but he couldn't quite figure out what.  
"Ulrich, why are you staring at me like that?" Yumi asked, moving closer.  
"Uhm, no reason" Ulrich stuttered, blushing.  
Yumi smiled. "You know, it was very brave what you did yesterday, standing up for me"  
"It was nothing" Ulrich said, the blushing glowing brighter.  
"I'd still like to thank you for it" Yumi said, and suddenly grabbing him and kissing him full on the mouth.  
Ulrich felt as though his heart was going to explode as he slowly puts his arms around her and returned the kiss.  
At a glance it looked like the first kiss of two lovers, but if anyone had taken time they would have noticed how Ulrich suddenly stiffened, his hands spasming open and close.  
Yumi leaned back and smiled at Ulrich. He smiled back at her, the hard gleam in their eyes reflecting each other and the X.A.N.A mark on their foreheads. The marks faded and as one they turned and began walking towards the school.

Episode 1, Chapter 4

Down in the sewer Jeremy was racing, the wheels on his scooter whirring.  
'I'm going to be so late', he thought to himself. 'I think I can still make lunch. Hope Odd and Ulrich covered for me'. It had taken him longer than expected  
to finish at the factory, but at last the surprise was ready.  
Jeremy smiled to himself and wondered what his friends reaction would be when he showed it to them.

He climbed out of the drain, closed it, and began sneaking into school. He slipped past Jim and get inside. Going up the steps two at a time, he turned at the corner and suddenly stopped, shocked at the sight in front of him.  
'Ulrich and Sissi? Kissing!'. He hid behind the corner, his eyes wide and tried to make sense of what he saw. Surprise turned to horror as he saw  
Sissi suddenly shiver and reel back. Ulrich smiled at her and she smiled back, the marks on their heads explaining everything.  
"X.A.N.A" Jeremy gasped.  
"Well done" Yumi said, stepping up from the doors behind them. With her came Odd, Theo and Sam. "Now all we have to do is find Jeremy and add him to the collective. Has he been located yet?" she asked Odd. "No. He is not in his room, nor has he been seen in any of the classes or the sick room."  
"Then he must be at the factory". All of them nodded in agreement.  
"Very well. We must get him before he discovers what we're up to."  
"And if the adults try to stop us?" Theo asked. Yumi smiled and replied "No problem."  
Black mist enveloped them, and when it cleared they all stood decked out in new uniforms. Gauntlets covered their forearms, knee high boots were on their feet while a full length bodysuit with open armour vest covered the rest, all in black and with Xana's eye featuring somewhere.  
Most alarming were their faces. Over their eyes were the outer circle of Xana's mark, pointing sideways and meeting on the bridge of their noses, the three stripes like war paint. Their eyes were black pools with two white dots in the centre.  
As one they marched, their movements mirroring each other. They exited the school and began walking to the park when a voice called out to them.  
"Hey you!" Jim shouted, walking up to them, "Just where do you think you're going? And what are you doing in that get up? Well? Turn around and answer me!"  
"Ulrich" Yumi said, "Be a dear and handle this."  
Ulrich spun in place and jumped up, his knee connecting hard with Jim's chin.  
With a crack his jaw broke, and he was flung back 15feet, landing close to the cafeteria.  
"That might not be enough" said Sissi "He could still be a bother to us"  
"Agreed" said Yumi. Six right hands came up and the before them blurred as a wall of force sped from them. It struck Jim and smashed him through the wall.  
"Now we can continue" Yumi said, and they advanced on the park.

Episode 1, Chapter 5

Jeremy' heart was racing as he sped down the sewer. He had caused a few delays for Yumi and her gang, but knew that if he didn't make it to the factory in time, all would be lost.

At the drain covering The Group at discovered a problem. Someone had closed it.  
"Jeremy" Yumi said. "He has found out about us."  
"Then let us not waste any time catching him" Ulrich replied, crouching down.  
He grabbed the covering and pulled sideways, opening it, before throwing it away behind him. He dropped straight down and waited for the others to arrive.  
Below ground they found another problem.  
Jeremy had thrown away their skateboards in to the water. Yumi smiled to herself.  
'He's more persistent than I thought. Still, who needs to ride when you can run?'  
"Ready" she said, going into a sprint position. "Steady. Go!"

In the factory, Jeremy was busy on the computer.  
"Ready program 'Auto-Trans'" He said into his headset. On the screen code began running, a blue download bar filled up and a green + appeared.  
"Set timer at 30 seconds" a clock appeared on the screen. "Start" he said, pulling off the headset and moving to the lift. 00:00:30 the computer flashed once and began counting down.  
00:00:25  
Outside the factory the sewer lid flew off the it's covering, landing with a loud clang on the ground. Ulrich's head appeared and was quickly followed by the rest of him. One by one the rest climbed out and made their way to the factory.  
00:00:15  
The lift opened and Jeremy ran to the scanners. He made a quick check behind, looked in his bag to make sure he had everything, then climbed in.  
00:00:10  
They dropped down to the factory floor, not even bothering with the ropes at the  
entrance. Moving to the lift, they began making their way down. When they reached the control room door they forced it open, only to be greeted by silence and a screen flashing 00:00:00 at them. 'Where is he?' Yumi wondered.

Episode 1, Chapter 5 continued...

"Where is he?" Yumi asked. "Wherever he is, he's not in the factory" Ulrich's voice said in her head. "We've looked everywhere and there is no sign of him" Theo replied.  
Yumi turned to the computer, the clock still blinking on and off. She pressed a esc and called up the computer files. She started scanning through them, going through the most recent to find any clue to where Jeremy had gone. Then she found it.  
"He is on Lyoko"

"Oof!".  
Jeremy landed hard on his back in the forest region. "Ouch" he said, and stood up, still a little dizzy from virtualisation. He quickly checked to make sure all his gear was with him. His Lyoko costume was made up of a blue shirt, black pants and black shoes with visor like glasses over his eyes. An open vest was on his chest and running over that was a rope holding up a stick on his back. On his left arm was a small shield.  
Since he wasn't much of a fighter he had decided to make is form quick and light.  
"Good thing to he said, look ahead of him, "cause it looks I'll have to start running already". 3 Roaches were scurrying up the forest path to him, laser holes already powering up.  
He ducked behind a tree as the first bolt flew at him and tried to think of how to escape. The roaches, however, had other plans in mind. 2 of them kept firing at the tree, leaving scorch marks all over, while the 3rd one began sneaking up from the other side.  
Jeremy was still trying to figure out what to do when the monster suddenly popped out from beside him. He brought his shield up just as it fired. The bolt hit the shield and ricochet back at it, blasting it to bits. 'Guess I have to fight then' he thought to himself and drew the pole from his back. It was about a foot long and made from a black metal substance.  
He jumped out from behind the tree, jumped up into the air and shouted "Black beam!" before swinging the staff down. It extended outwards until it was 5feet long and crashed down on the roach, smashing it into the ground. Jeremy quickly swung it to the side and crunched the other one against a rock.  
The staff shrunk down to size. Jeremy quickly placed it back on his back and began making his way to the tower where Aelita last was.

Real world, Scanner room. Yumi, Ulrich and Odd were climbing into the scanners, while Theo, Sissi and Sam stood in the middle of the room.  
"We'll go to Lyoko since we have the most experience. You will stay here in case he devirtualises and returns here. Be ready. This won't take long", she said as the doors closed.

Episode 1, Chapter 6

In the air above Lyoko, three beams of energy appeared. solidified and turned into three dark figures. Yumi, Ulrich and Odd landed on the ground and immediately fan out, searching for any signs of Jeremy.

Jeremy peeked out from behind the boulder, and scanned the area for monsters.  
Twice he had to take on some roaches so far, but they hadn't been a problem.  
He was actually surprised that Xana only had such a weak defence. Still, he wasn't going to complain about it.  
He run up to the next boulder and peeked out again. Up on the hill he saw the tower and gasped in shock. It's peak was glowing red meaning XANA was controlling it. 'But why didn't Aelita tell me' he wondered, and then he realised.  
She was trapped inside. XANA was holding her prisoner in there.  
"That explains why he has so few monsters" Jeremy said out loud. The energy needed to control both his friends and keep Aelita in had left XANA weak.  
Jeremy pulled the pole off his back and readied his shield.  
"Here I come, Aelita" He said and started moving to the tower.  
Suddenly a bolt of distorted air exploded in front of him, knocking him off his feet.  
"I think not" said Yumi, dropping down in front of him.  
"To get to her, you'll have to get past me" she said, pointing her hand at him  
and releasing another bolt of power. He quickly rolled to the left, the shot missing him just, and jumped to his feet.  
"I don't want to fight you, Yumi" he said, moving slowly to her left.  
"Too bad!" she shouted and leapt at him. He ducked and she struck the boulder behind him. Slightly stunned, she growled and spun around, only to get struck in the face by Jeremy's staff. She held her ground and smiled at him down the pole.  
"Nice toy" she said and grabbed it. Or would have if it hadn't shrunk back to him.  
Jeremy crouched down into a defence position and then turned and ran for the tower. Yumi grinned and jumped up to the tree next to her.  
Like a cat she bounded from tree to tree, overtaking him easily.  
"Not bad, Jeremy, but not good enough!" she cried, diving down towards him.  
"Black beam!" he shouted and swung the expanding staff towards her.  
Laughing she twisted mid-air, letting the staff swing past her and landed behind him. She quickly turned and delivered a hard double fisted punch to his back, slamming him forward into the ground.  
"Give up yet? Or do you want some more?" she asked. She looked behind her and saw Ulrich and Odd rushing up to her. "It's not over yet, XANA" Jeremy said.  
She looked back at him and saw he was back on his feet again.  
"Why won't you just stay down!" she shouted, flinging her arm up and blasting him. The blast struck his shield and broke it into pieces. He was flung backwards, straight into the tower.  
"NO!" Yumi cried, running up to the tower. She tried to enter but couldn't since she was a creature of XANA and they could never enter the tower.  
Turning to Odd and Ulrich she said "We have to get in, no matter what"

Episode 1, Chapter 7

"Ugh!" Jeremy grunted as he landed inside the tower. Painfully he got up and walked to the centre. "Aelita" he said softly, for there she was, floating in the middle in a column of red energy while XANA symbols spun around her.  
"Yiiiyaaah!" Jeremy yelled, swinging his staff as hard as he could.  
It struck the energy with a crack. For a moment nothing seemed to happen. Then, with a splintering crackle, the column broke and Aelita dropped to the platform.  
"Aelita! Aelita, can you hear me?" Jeremy asked, cradling her in his arms.  
He hugged her to him. "Come on, Aelita, answer me, please" he said softly.  
He looked down at her face, and started leaning forward until their lips met.  
The kiss seemed to last for hours, or so it seemed for Jeremy.  
He leaned back, and was rewarded with a gasp from Aelita. Slowly she opened her eyes and smiled up at him.  
"Jeremy, I knew you'd save me" she said. He looked away, blushing furiously.  
He got up to his feet and lifted her up. He smiled at her and started to say something when an explosion rocked the tower.  
"It's Yumi, Ulrich and Odd" he said, still holding Aelita's hand. "They're trying to get in. Or failing that, destroy the tower and us in it."  
"Quickly Aelita, shut XANA down!" he said, pointing up to the top.  
She nodded, and then tightened her grip on his hand. Together they flew up and landed on the top platform. The blue screen appeared and Aelita placed her hand on it. An imprint of her hand appeared, faded.  
Aelita the screen confirmed. Code Lyoko it flashed.  
Outside everything stopped. And then time reset itself.

"So we were really under XANA's control?" Ulrich asked, amazed.  
"Yep" Jeremy said, sitting down on his bed. "He was trying to turn us into his slaves. And boy, did he almost succeed."  
"Wait, let me get this straight" Odd said, "Ulrich really kissed Sissi?"  
Everyone glared at him. "Just asking" Odd smirked.  
"Still, I wonder why he didn't go for me first?" Jeremy wonder, scratching at a small black dot on his neck.

Midnight, at Kadic. In one of the dorms a computer screen goes on by itself. A red eye symbol appears once and then sends out black mist arms into the room.


End file.
